When Darkness Builds (The Caldera Series)

by M. C. Sutton

  Jon knew perfectly well Richard didn’t golf. He didn’t bother to argue, though. He would just ask him again the next time Richard came to visit.

  Emma stepped out from the house, the first he’d seen of her that afternoon. “Hey, you two,” she said, crossing her arms. “Are you going to stand around and chit-chat, or are we going to eat?”

  Jon wrinkled his forehead at her. Finals should have been over hours ago. What had taken her so long to get home?

  “Hey, now. Is that any way to greet your old man?” Richard glanced at Jon and winked.

  Jon grinned as he plated the burgers. You get her, Richard.

  Emma took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. “You’re right, Dad. I’m sorry. How are you?”

  Jon carried the burgers into the kitchen to give Emma and her father a chance to talk. He hoped Richard would pick up on Emma’s irritability without Jon having to say anything. He sat the plate on the kitchen island, then, unable to resist, grabbed one of the patties with his bare fingers.

  Sarah March, their dearest and oldest friend, walked through the front door and caught him. “Hey, what’d I tell you about watching your cholesterol? You’re not getting any younger, you know.” She dropped her bag and jacket on the loveseat.

  “You think this is bad,” said Jon, “wait till you see the steak I got stashed in the oven.”

  Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know why you even bother coming in for a checkup if you’re not going to listen to anything I say.”

  He winked at her and took a bite of his burger.

  Sarah’s twenty-one-year old stepson, Daniel, walked in behind her, staring at his phone as he headed for the back door.

  “Hey, Daniel, how’s it going?” said Jon, grabbing a tomato from a bowl in front of him and setting it on a cutting board.

  Daniel stopped in mid-stride. “Um,” he stammered, shoving his phone into his pocket. “Fine?” He answered in that thick British accent Jon always found slightly annoying.

  “That’s…” Jon turned to Sarah and raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t actually expected a response. “Good?”

  Sarah just shrugged.

  Daniel offered a weak smile, then turned his eyes to his tennis shoes, his glasses slipping even further down his nose. He ran a hand through his sandy brown hair.

  “Okay,” said Jon. “Well then, Daniel. I think Leah and the boys are down by the lake. Why don’t you go find them and tell them the food’s ready?”

  Daniel nodded. “Right,” he said, as if to himself, then turned and headed down the stairs leading to the walk-out basement.

  “What’s up with him?” Jon asked Sarah as she joined him in the kitchen.

  “I have no idea,” she answered. “He’s been acting even weirder than usual lately.”

  “And where’s your husband? Wasn’t he supposed to be here?”

  Sarah pulled the cutting board toward her and took the knife from Jon’s hand. “Mike, um, couldn’t make it.”

  “That’s too bad. I was hoping he’d have a talk with Emma.”

  “Ha! I doubt it. Mike’s under the impression she’s avoiding him.”

  Mike and Emma taught on the same campus, their offices just a few doors apart. If Emma really wanted to avoid him, she’d have to go pretty far out of her way to do it. “Why would she be avoiding him?” Jon asked.

  “Oh, come on,” said Sarah, slicing into the tomato. “It’s Emma we’re talking about here. Who knows why she does half of what she does?”

  Emma stepped through the door. “It’s about time you showed up,” she barked at Sarah. Grabbing the potato salad from the counter, she turned on her heel, straight back out onto the deck.

  “Hello to you too!” Sarah called after her.

  Jacob and his best friend, Garrett, came in behind her, passing Emma on her way out.

  Garrett grinned and rolled his eyes. “Well, somebody’s in a mood.”

  Jon shook his head. “Shut up, Garrett.”

  By the time they all fixed their plates and settled down to dinner, it was almost sunset. The teenagers opted to sit on the patio sofas at the far end of the deck, where it wrapped around the corner of the house. The adults sat at the deck table by the kitchen doors. Jon left an empty chair between him and Sarah for Emma. But when Emma stepped out of the kitchen with her plate, she glanced at the chair beside Jon, narrowed her eyes at Sarah, then sat across from them instead.

  “So, Mike tells me President Saundra was here touring the storm damage from last week,” said Sarah. “He even saw Saundra’s entourage on campus today.”

  Emma glared at Sarah, but Sarah just slathered mustard onto her hamburger like she didn’t even notice.

  “Greg was on campus today, Emmy?” Richard asked. “Did he come to see you while he was there?”

  Emma glanced at Jon and bit her lip. “I saw him, yes.” She turned her eyes back to her plate.

  Jon raised an eyebrow. He knew that President Saundra and Richard had worked together as US marshals for decades when Emma was younger. The man had practically helped raise her. But having the president of the United States pay you an unexpected visit wasn’t something that happened every day. To anyone.

  Richard tilted his head. “And?”

  “And what?” she answered.

  “What did he want, Emma?”

  “What makes you think he wanted something?”

  Richard crossed his arms. “He’s a busy man, Emmy. I doubt very seriously he just popped in to say hello.”

  Emma continued to stare down at the table. Jon heard Garrett laughing his head off around the corner while they waited for her to answer. Finally, Emma stopped pushing her potato salad around with her fork and looked up at Jon.

  “The man asked you a question, Em,” he said. “I think you should answer him.”

  She dropped her fork onto her plate with a clatter and leaned back in her chair. “Congress has called a national convention for next month, okay? Greg asked me to go as a representative.”

  Jon clenched his jaw.

  “Whoa, did you just say national convention?” said Jacob from behind them. All five of them turned. Jacob stood just outside the kitchen door, about to walk in with his empty plate.

  “What?” said Emma.

  “Well, I could have sworn I just heard you say you were asked to speak at the national convention,” said Jacob. “Is that true?”

  Emma looked at Jon as if she were asking him whether to answer.

  “Because if so, that would be incredible,” Jacob continued.

  “Why?” asked Sarah. “What’s so special about the convention?”

  Jacob’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding me, right? You mean you guys really don’t know?”

  “No, Jacob, we really don’t know. So why don’t you enlighten us already?” said Jon.

  “Okay, okay.” Jacob grinned. He pulled out the chair next to Jon and sat down. “The reason this convention is such a big deal,” he leaned forward and whispered as if it were all some great secret, “is because it’s not just some political love-fest like the conventions held by the parties every election year. This is a Constitutional Convention. It’s one of only two ways the Constitution can be amended, and it’s never been done before. The state legislatures have applied to amend the Supremacy Clause, which makes the federal government the supreme law. They want to give more power back to the states because they think they can do a better job themselves.”

  “Greg wouldn’t allow that,” said Richard.

  “He doesn’t have a choice,” said Jacob. “Neither the president nor Congress has any power over the amendment process in this case. A Constitutional Convention takes control away from the federal government and puts it into the hands of a state-selected group of elitists. Whatever happens at that convention—no matter what it is—will pass if at least three fourths of the states ratify it. The convention doesn’t even have to be limited to a single subject once it’s been called, either. The delegates could get dow
n there and propose any changes they want, and the Constitution dictates the boundaries for every law and policy that is or ever could be passed in this country. It outlines the extent of power the US government can have. You control the Constitution, and you control the United States.”

  Emma’s eyes got wide. “Which is why Bennett will be there,” she said, almost to herself.

  Jon sat up straight. “Wait—what?”

  “Stephen Bennett?” said Sarah. “As in, poster-boy-for-the-GOG Stephen Bennett?”

  Emma looked at Jon but didn’t answer.

  “How in the world did a Canadian national get invited to an American convention?” Richard asked.

  Jacob shrugged. “The states can call any delegates they want to represent them. There were bankers, lawyers, and ministers at the Constitutional Convention held when the United States was founded. If President Saundra asked you, Mom, it means he made sure your name got included through one of the state legislatures.”

  That didn’t surprise Jon at all. Greg Saundra probably had quite a few friends from Virginia and North Carolina he could talk into it. That would also explain why he’d been so secretive about his visit. It hadn’t even been mentioned in the local news. Saundra knew he was the only one who could convince Emma to do it—yet if anyone at that convention found out she’d been asked by the federal government to be there, her credibility would be shot.

  “But Stephen Bennett?” said Sarah.

  “Yes. And that’s exactly why everyone’s so worried,” Jacob explained. “Because the only other time there’s been a Constitutional Convention was in 1776, to fix the problems of operating under the Articles of Confederation. Except that, for most of the attendees, their goal wasn’t actually to find a way to fix the existing government.” He picked up his plate and stood.

  Jon, Emma, Mike, Sarah, and Richard stared at him.

  “Then what was their goal?” asked Jon.

  “To form an entirely new one.”

  They finished the rest of their meal in an eerie silence, punctuated by occasional laughter from the kids around the corner. The sun faded into a deep orange as it disappeared through the tops of the trees on the other side of the lake. The frogs were as loud as Jon had heard them all spring, and there was already a thick stickiness in the air. It would be a rough summer.

  Eventually, Jon could no longer swallow the perfectly marbled porterhouse he’d been saving since they slaughtered the steer six months ago, thanks to the large knot that had formed in the back of his throat as soon as he heard Stephen Bennett’s name. Every few minutes he’d glance over at Emma, who hadn’t so much as lifted her eyes in his direction. He was angry at her for not telling him sooner, though he had to admit she hadn’t had the chance.

  Finally, he resolved to find something more productive to do than sit there and stew. He got up and headed into the kitchen to clean up.

  Sarah followed him.

  “Did you bring them?” Jon asked her as he rinsed a plate and loaded it into the dishwasher.

  She leaned against the counter next to him. “Yes, I brought them.”

  Jon went silent as the others began to stream in from the deck. Leah and the boys spread out across the sofa and loveseat to play cards. Richard plopped himself down in the armchair across from them. Jon took a quick glance out the window to check on Emma. She still sat on the deck alone in the dark, poking at her half-eaten dinner with a fork.

  “Then you’re okay with it?” he said, turning back to Sarah.

  “Of course I’m not okay with it,” she answered, lowering her voice. “It goes against every ethical code I’m sworn to uphold.”

  Jon wrinkled his forehead. Sarah was like a sister to him. The last thing he wanted was for her to have to do something that made her uncomfortable. But what other option did he have?

  He took a deep breath. “Then I appreciate it even more.”

  Sarah sighed. “All right. But let’s not make a habit of it, okay?”

  Jon smiled. “Thank you. You know you’re my favorite MD, right, Doc?”

  “I darn well better be.”

  Jon quickly cleared his throat to let Sarah know that Emma was stepping through the French doors behind her. Sarah winked at him and walked off.

  “Honey, you didn’t have to do this,” said Emma, setting her plate on the counter. “You did the cooking and prep work, the least I can do is clean up.”

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” He looked down at her plate. “Em, you barely even touched your food.”

  “I know. I just don’t feel much like eating right now.”

  Jon looked her over. She had dark circles beneath her eyes, like she hadn’t slept in days. Her face was even starting to thin. She had always been small, but Jon could tell she’d lost some weight. And he knew she would just get worse, which was exactly why he had gone to Sarah when he did.

  He turned off the faucet and dried his hands. “Baby, why don’t you go downstairs and get comfortable? I’ll make sure everything gets taken care of.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. He noticed Sarah heading toward him, a hand in her pocket. “How about I bring you down a cup of tea?”

  Emma raised an eyebrow. “Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?”

  “What are you talking about? I’m always nice to you.”

  Emma grinned and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  Jon leaned down to kiss her and, as he did, felt Sarah slip something into his pocket.

  “All right you two, that’s enough of that,” said Leah, grabbing a bag of chips from the counter. “If I have to behave while everyone’s here, then so do you.”

  “Excuse me, young lady?” said Emma. “I don’t see a ring on your finger!”

  “Come on, Emma,” said Sarah, grabbing Emma by the arm and pulling her toward the stairs. “Why don’t you show me some of Jacob’s latest work?”

  Jon finished up the dishes, then looked around to make sure he was the only one in the kitchen before making Emma’s tea. As he headed toward the stairs with a steaming mug in each hand, he could feel Matt following him across the room with his eyes.

  He walked softly down the wrap-around staircase, stopping on the landing at the middle. Sarah stood on the other side of the family room, admiring some of Jacob’s latest photography. Emma was in her favorite spot just below him: curled up in the corner of the sectional sofa with a blanket wrapped around her.

  Jon shook his head. Almost summer, and Emma was cold. It wasn’t a good sign.

  He continued down the stairs and handed Sarah one of the mugs of tea. Sarah stared into the cup and raised an eyebrow at him. Jon grinned and winked.

  As he turned toward the couch to give Emma the other cup, he noticed her nodding off. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest and her head resting on the cushion beside her. Unfortunately, falling asleep was never her problem. It was staying asleep that she had such a hard time with.

  “Thank you, sweetheart,” said Emma, sitting up straight as he handed her the tea.

  He smiled. “You’re very welcome.”

  Jon settled down at the other end of the couch, not realizing until then how tired he was himself. Sarah sat down close to Emma. Emma took a long drink of her tea, then yawned and rubbed her eyes. Jon looked over at Sarah.

  She frowned and took a deep breath. “You look awfully tired, kiddo,” she told Emma.

  “I’m not as young as I used to be, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh, you’re only as old as you feel.”

  Emma leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Then I’m old.”

  “Hey, I’ve got six years on you. What does that make me?” said Sarah.

  Emma smiled. “Older.”

  Jon couldn’t help but laugh.

  Until Sarah glared at him. “Emma,” she said, as she pushed a lock of white-blond hair behind her ear, “Jon says you’ve been having trouble sleeping.”

  “Well, Jon has a big mouth.”

  “Be that a
s it may, I still think you should let me give you—”

  “No.”

  “Emma—”

  “I don’t want to take anything, Sarah!” Emma lifted her head off the cushion and narrowed her eyes.

  “Fine,” said Sarah. “If you won’t let me help you, then I’ll just give it to Jon so he can slip it to you when you’re not looking.”

  Jon’s jaw dropped. Sarah, what are you doing? She had told him she would give Emma the opportunity to accept her help willingly, but this wasn’t what he had in mind.

  Emma curled a lip. “He wouldn’t do that.” She brought her cup to her mouth.

  Jon felt a pang of guilt as she took a long drink.

  “Oh yeah?” said Sarah. “How’s your tea?”

  Emma choked mid-gulp. She looked first into her cup, then up at Jon, her eyes wide. Jon dropped his head and looked away. Apparently secretly drugging her patients wasn’t something Sarah was particularly good at.

  I guess this makes us even.

  “You traitor!” Emma barked.

  Jon shrugged. “What can I say? The woman signs my flight physical.”

  “Yeah? Well, she’s also going to be signing your death certificate.”

  “Okay.” Sarah clapped her hands together and stood. “I can see my work here is done. That should kick in pretty quickly,” she added, pointing at Emma’s cup.

  Emma glared.

  “You can thank me in the morning,” said Sarah.

  Jon highly doubted that would happen. “Let me walk you out,” he told Sarah.

  Upstairs in the living room, Jacob, Matt, and Garrett were starting a movie. Richard had fallen asleep in the armchair, as usual. Sometime in the middle of the night he’d get up and pad off to the guest room. Then in the morning he and Jon would sneak off together to enjoy short stacks and sausage without a lecture about cholesterol.

  “Where’s Daniel?” asked Sarah.

  Garrett lifted his head from the arm of the loveseat. “Out on the front porch,” he said with a grin. “With Leah.”

  Jon clenched his jaw.

  Sarah flipped on the light as she and Jon stepped out onto the front porch. Leah and Daniel were standing next to the banister, their arms wrapped around each other’s waists, and Daniel’s forehead rested on hers.